Ultraman: Rising
(2024)

Ultraman: Rising 🐉 ウルトラマン: ライジング

The upcoming Netflix release of the Japanese-American co-production of one of the highest-grossing characters of all time, Ultraman, is set to have its World Premiere June 12th at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France.

Ultraman: Rising follows the story of the overly confident Ken Sato, a Japanese-born baseball player who, after moving to America, has become one of the sport’s biggest stars. The thing is, he’s also the son of Japan’s greatest superhero, Ultraman. After the many pleas from his father, Ken reluctantly goes back to Japan to pull double duty, playing for the hometown baseball club by day while also taking over the mantle of Ultraman and fighting Kaijus at night. He ends up going through the motions of his new-found superhero life with no real care or concern for what being a hero entails, until he is forced to adopt a baby Kaiju, where he’ll learn what it really means to protect those around you.

Dune: Part Two might be the best movie I’ve seen this year, but Ultraman: Rising is by far my favourite.

Growing up as a Power Rangers fan, I never saw a need to double down and watch something that looked and seemed so similar to something I was already watching, so this was my first foray into the world of Ultraman, and what an introduction it was.

Ultraman: Rising gave me the same wholesome feeling I used to have when watching the golden age of Pixar (Toy Story, Ratatouille, Monsters Inc.), while simultaneously blowing me away with its striking and ambitious visuals. The animation reminded me a lot of how I felt about Spider-Verse and Arcane, where it takes a seemingly simple story, transports you to that world, which enhances the entire viewing experience.

This sci-fi, superhero, family adventure takes us through the growing pains of being a parent and how it really is just an accumulation of trial and error until you find the right formula for the baby, or in this case, Kaiju, you are meant to nurture into adulthood.

Watching Ken go from being overly confident in every aspect of life to being humbled by the experience of being a parent is what I think will make this the perfect watch for both children and parents alike.

And it has to be said, I don’t easily get sold on the cute-ification of characters (is that even a word?), but Emi is the exception. Protect that adorable Kaiju at all costs!

If I had any issue with this movie, it’s that it won’t be getting a theatrical release.

The score, along with the story and animation, does such a phenomenal job of balancing the feeling of a family adventure while being able to hone in on the cinematic feeling of a Kaiju story. This deserves the big screen treatment as much as any, and maybe even more than most movies released this year.

While researching for this film, I learned the extent of Ultraman's popularity, not only in Japan but globally. He is even set to have a limited series crossover with Marvel's Avengers on August 14 of this year.

This may not be on your radar (it wasn’t on mine), but you’ll be doing yourself a disservice if you don’t immediately add this to your watch list.

Netflix has a guaranteed hit on its hands with Ultraman: Rising, surprising beyond belief with incredibly electrifying animation in a heartwarming family-friend adventure that tackles the learning curve of raising children and the parental instinct to always rise to the occasion.

Enjoy!

8.9/10 🍿 🎥

Runtime: 2hrs01min
Where: Streaming on Netflix June 14th
End-Credit Scene: ✅

Ultraman Rising Review (2024) The Richmond Reviewer

#Annecy #UltramanRising #Ultraman #Animation #Anime #Japan #Kaiju #Film #Movie #MovieReview #Ultraman #Annecy204 #Netflix